The Road To Bettering Ourselves
by NeverGoesToSleep
Summary: AU Puckleberry in which some out-of-the-ordinary things go down. But then again, it is Puck and Rachel we're talking about here. Rated T for, well, Puck.


***Well, hello! My name's Sam, and uh, well, you probably don't care. Anyway, this is my first Puckleberry-centered story and I'm really excited about it! Here's a little more info about what I know so far: The main couple is definetly Puckleberry. Keep in mind that this idea started out as being mainly Fuinn (Finn/Quinn), so you'll be seeing plenty of them as well. Other couples making appearances are Artie/Tina, Brittany/Santana, Puck/Santana, and just a tiny bit of Puck/Quinn. This is also AU, so no babygate thing. It's in third person POV. I hope you enjoy!***

Puck weaved through groups of loud-mouthed kids and scrawny freshman, intent on finding his friends. It was the first day of sophomore year, and he and his "boys" as he called Finn, Mike, and Matt, were picked for first-string on the football team. After pushing through a large group of kids observing an infamous Sylvester/Figgins showdown, he spotted his friends sitting atop a lunch table. Mike and Matt both had carelessly opened packages of Skittles in their laps, and Puck stopped for a moment to watch amusedly as they each threw a Skittle into the other's mouth. Finn was sitting next to them, wearing a letterman jacket similar to the one Puck had slung over his shoulder. Although he appeared to be laughing along with Mike and Matt, his eyes had wandered over to where the Cheerios had gathered. Puck followed his gaze and found it was aimed at the head cheerleader, a blonde named Quinn Fabray. Puck sighed. Finn had been crushing on her since they were in eighth grade, and his pining for her without Quinn actually knowing was getting sickening.

He walked over to the table and gave Finn a smack to the back of the head.

"Ow!" Finn complained, hissing and rubbing the back of his head.

"You zoned out staring at Fabray's butt." Was Puck's explanation as he noted her back was turned to them at this angle.

"I wasn't-" his friend began in his tired voice, but Puck raised his eyebrow at him, a classic mannerism of Quinn's. She and Puck had been friends for years, meeting by way of being in the "in" crowd. Finn had only recently achieved entrance into said group, and therefore didn't quite have a bond like the lifelong members. Suddenly, amused laughter boomed next to the two boys, and they both turned to see Mike and Matt staring with interest at their non-jock friends, breakdancers of course. They had a corner in the school quad, territorrially marked by flattened cardboard boxes. Puck noticed the regular dancers there; a dark-skinned kid with a poofy set of curls atop his head, a girl with scraggly blonde hair and baggy sweatpants, an Asian set of twins, and a girl with piercings going down the line of her ear. There was one girl he had never seen with that crowd though, or at all. She definetly didn't belong there, though. Unlike Mike and Matt's friends, she had that just-showered look with long, wet, dark curls twisting and turning down her back. She was dancing to the music, spinning quickly, with a grace and fluidity yet to be seen in the other dancers. Puck watched in intrigue as she danced through the rest of the song, her toe pointing straight out and her arms curved over her head perfectly. The song came to an end and she turned to the blonde girl.

"_That _is how you properly execute a Petit Allegro." The brunette said, grabbing the handle of a pink rolling suitcase and wheeling it away with her eyes straight ahead and head held high.

Puck was still so mesmerized by the girl's beautiful, graceful dancing that it took Mike a couple jabs in the kidneys with his elbow to snap him out of it.

"Dude? Dude?"

"Sorry-sorry, what?"

"We said you should get that hottie over there to join Glee Club." Matt persuaded. Glee Club was an extracurricular activity for the musically talented student's of McKinley High-or in other words, show choir. It wasn't exactly Puck (or Mike and Matt's) choice to join Glee Club, but Mr. Schuester, the director, persuaded them with some..._incriminating_ items he found in their lockers. They had been members ever since, and although Puck would never admit to it, he enjoyed it. Right now, they were in dire need of new members.

"Done and done." Puck answered, slapping Mike on the back as he made his way over to the girl. He stopped midway on his way over to her when he saw her talking to a blonde Cheerio.

"Hi, I'm Quinn Fabray. I'm captain of the Cheerios-that's the cheerleading squad-and I was wondering if you might be able to do what you just did over there again at our practice today after school. Three O'clock?" _Dang it, Fabray!_

"Well, hello, Quinn, my name's Rachel Berry. I'm very flattered by your offer as you obviously took interest in my exceptional dancing skills, but I'm afraid that cheerleading is bad for the vocal cords-all the yelling puts strain on them. I apologize as I feel I must decline your offer." With that, she picked up the handle of her suitcase and walked away with it, leaving a behind a gaping Quinn. Puck couldn't help but laugh at her scandalized expression-then frown when he realized he just watched that Rachel chick walk away and disappear in the crowd. Quinn stomped over to him, angry as anything.

"I can't believe she just did that." She huffed, her arms over her chest and eyes slitted furiously. Puck laughed loudly at her.

"Does Queen Fabray need one of her slaves to send the new girl to the dungeon?" He taunted, laughing heartily while she slapped the side of his arm.

"Not funny." She informed him under her breath.

"It is to me." He smirked. She rolled her eyes and left Puck there, still laughing-and still thinking about "Rachel."

* * *

"We've got to do something, guys." pleaded with Puck and the rest of the Glee Club.

"We'll be fine, Schue. Right now we have, what, seven members? Getting two more will be as easy as one, two, punch." Puck explained, punching the air at the end for emphasis.

"Actually, we need five more members." Mercedes corrected, causing Puck to sour and slump back into his chair.

"Yeah Puck, and I don't think intimidation is the best form of cohersion either." Their tecaher added. Then, his face lit up like a child's at Christmas. "But maybe you and Mike and Matt over there can recruit a few people from the football team, huh? and Maybe even the Cheerios!" While Mr. Schuester was ecstatic about the idea and was even thinking up possible dance routines where they could incorporate cheerleading moves, the jocks of the group weren't as fired up. The members of the club had pulled their chairs into a loose circle, resembling something of a huddle.

"This is a hot mess." Mercedes whispered, Kurt nodding with her.

"No way are your friends going to want to join." Artie added.

"Well," Puck began, mulling over the idea in his head. "I could probably bribe Q to join-she's a pretty good singer, you know, and her 'BFF's' or whatever Brittany and Santana will follow for sure." Puck proposed.

"Good." Mercedes nodded.

"B-but," Tina piped up, "That st-st-still leav-leaves t-t-t-t-t-two spot-ts open." Tina stuttered shyly. She smiled when Artie placed a reassuring hand on her thigh.

"Gothie's right. We'd still be screwed for Regionals." Kurt informed them quickly. Mike nudged Puck.

"What about Finn? If you tell him Quinn's joining, he'll be first in line!" Mike whispered.

"You're right, and he can play the drums." He muttered back to his friend, then turned to the rest of the group. "Alright, Finn's in, too."

"Okay," Mercedes said slowly, biting the edge of her lip. "We're still a person short." The huddle fell into a comfortable, thoughtful silence as each member though over a person willing to take the abuse of being in Glee Club-well, almost everyone was. Puck was still thinking about Rachel and how amazing she moved. She was like a supermodel, only shorter. And her legs, those tanned, amazing legs-it seemed like they went on for miles. Puck was immersed in his own fantasy involving said amazing legs wrapped around his sweaty, banging body when it hit him-the chick was a dancer! She'd be perfect for Glee Club!

"Guys!" He whispered, a mischevious smirk dancing on his lips, "I know who our new member's going to be..."

***So, this is the first chapter. I really had fun making it, and I hope you had fun reading it! Please review. Like I said, it's my first Puckleberry story so I'd like some reviews/critiques. Let me know if you think I should continue with it or have any suggestions on how to better the story and/or my writing in general. It's un beta'ed so sorry for any errors.***


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